March 14, 2026

THIBODAUX, La. – The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) Vaqueros baseball team rallied back from a 5-run deficit to beat the Nicholls Colonels 11-7 Saturday at Ben Meyer Diamond at Ray E. Didier Field.

Down 7-2 in the sixth, the Vaqueros (9-10, 4-4 SLC) loaded the bases with one out, setting up a two-run double by junior Easton Moomau to pull within two.

In the seventh, senior Ethan Edinger led off with a walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a single by graduate student PSJA alum Diego Villescas, who stole second, moved to third on a fly out, and scored on an infield-single by senior Thomas Williams, who immediately stole second. Eli Waters (0-1) came in out of the bullpen and allowed an RBI-double to junior Armani Raygoza before junior PSJA alum Julius Ramirez blasted a two-run home run to left to give the Vaqueros a 9-7 lead.

In the eighth, Villescas drew a one out walk and junior Rocco Garza Gongora reached on an error. After the runners advanced on a wild pitch, Williams hit a two-run single to put the Vaqueros up 11-7.

Williams finished 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Villescas went 2-for-3 with a walk, two RBI, and two runs scored.

That made a winner of senior Los Fresnos alum Víctor Loa (1-1), who struck out five in 4.0 scoreless innings of relief.

The Colonels (11-10, 3-4 SLC) got the scoring started in the first, putting two on with one out to set up an RBI-single by Carter Jenkins. One out later, Greyson Shafer hit a two-run single to make the score 3-0.

The Vaqueros started the second by drawing back-to-back walks. Then, with one out, Edinger and Villescas hit RBI-singles to bring the Vaqueros within 3-2.

That was it until the fifth, when with one out, Keegan Giger doubled and Matt Melancon hit an RBI-single. One out later, Jenkins singled and Nico Rijo Berger hit a three-run home run to push the Colonels’ lead to 7-2.

UTRGV goes for the series sweep of Nicholls on Sunday at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.